Doorlock



Oct. 8,1935. P. 1:. FORD 4 2,016,895

DOORLOCK Filed July so, 1952 Ill. H 3 1 4 I N VEN TOR.

A TTORNE Y.

Patented Oct. 8, 1935 UNITED STATES DOORLOCK Patrick E. Ford,

Application July 30,

3 Claims.

My invention relates to door locks and has particular relationto a doorlatch or lock particularly suitable for use with motor vehicles and thelike.

I have observed that the door locks now commonly used for motor vehiclesare a source of danger in the operation of the vehicle. Persons,particularly children, will hang on to the outside handle of the doorlock and ride on the runningboard of the car against the owners wisheThe handles may accidentally be turned by the person riding on therunning-board and the door opened causing the person to be "thrown tothe pavement and injured, or a person riding in this .manner may bethrown from the running-board by any sudden movement of the car as inturning a corner or by quick stopping of the car as in a collision or inavoiding a collision. Furthermore, the handles constitute a source ofdanger as an obstruction or projecting part of the car by which 'aperson may be injured. Numerous. accidents have occurred in which aperson has fallen against a moving car and been badly injured bystriking the protruding handle of a door.

The inner handles of the door lock also are a source of danger becausethe occupants of the car may, in using the handles as a hand-hold,unintentionally unlatch thedoor and be thrown out of the car when thecar turns a corner. Furthermore, the handles on the inside of the dooroftentimes injure or tear an occupants clothing by catching the clothingas the occupant moves his arm or gets in or out of the vehicle.

The handles constitute an unsightly projection both inside and outsideof the car and destroy the sweeping efifect of the lines of the car. Thehandles may readily be twisted oil by thieves to gain admission to thevehicle. In addition the door latch structures now commonly used arerelatively complicated and expensive.

I have accordingly devised means for overcoming these difliculties and abroad and general object of my invention is to provide a new andimproved door latching mechanism'which will avoid the difliculties ofthe devices of the' prior art.

A more specific object of my invention is to provide door latching orlocking means which need not project from the car door sufliciently toafford a hand hold on the outside or the inside I of the car.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa 1932, Serial No. 626,478.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device of the abovecharacter which cannot readily be opened by unauthorized individualswhen locked.

Another object of my invention is to provide a 5 door latching device,the handles of which will not injure an occupants clothing.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a simple, sturdy andreliable device which afiords quick and easy access to and egress from amotor vehicle or the like.

Other and further features and objects of the invention willbe moreapparent to those skilled in the art upon a consideration of theaccompanying drawing and following specification, wherein is disclosedseveral exemplary embodiments of the invention, with the understanding,however, that such changes maybe made therein as fall Within thescope ofthe appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.The device may be used or adapted for use for other purposes, forinstance-although the invention is shown and described in connectionwith the door of a motor vehicle, it is quite apparent that it may beused or modified for use with many other door and drawer constructions,as for instance, the door of a refrigerator or the drawer of a piece offurniture or the like.

Referring now to the drawing in which like numerals refer to like partsthroughout the several figures,

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a motor vehicle in the door ofwhich a door-latch operating-mechanism constructed according to myinvention has been incorporated.

Figure 2 is a schematic representation in perspective of the variousparts of a door latch mechanism constructed according to one embodimentof my invention.

Figure 3 is a view in section of a portion of a door showing how adevice constructed according ,to one embodiment of my invention isincorporated in the door, and

Figure 4 is a view in perspective of the outside handle portion of. adevice constructed according to another embodiment of my invention.

Referring now to the drawing, there is shown at H], generally, a motorvehicle having a door II to permit access to and egress from theinterior of the vehicle. The door may be constructed in the usual mannerwith a hollow outside door panel l2 and a covering inner panel 13, thedoor being provided with hinges in. the usual manner to permit openingand closing. The door panel I2 is provided with the usual ornamentalmoldings l4.

The framework of the car includes vertical standards |6 for supportingthe roof of the car and the vertical standards have a stepped keeper l1fastened to the side thereof in order that a cooperating bolt |8 on thedoor may engage the keeper when the door is closed to hold it in theclosed position.

The bolt "3 is somewhat L-shaped in section with the long arm IQ of thebolt projecting into the'door in a direction parallel to the panel B.The bolt passes through a suitable rectangular opening 2| in the doorlock plate 22 and the plate is secured by any suitable means such asbolts which pass through the openings 23 to and in the end portion ofthe panel l2. The shorter arm 24 of the bolt 8 projects through theopening 2| and is bent back again so that the extreme end thereofprojects back through the opening. The bolt is pivotally attached to theplate 22 as by means of the pivot lugs 26 and is held normally with thearm 24 projecting outwardly to engage the keeper H, by any suitablespring means such as the leaf spring 21 which engages the outer end ofthe arm IQ of the bolt and inner wall of the panel l3 to bias the armI!) outwardly.

It may readily be understood then that the bolt 24 normally engages thekeeper I! when the door is closed and that when the door is closed thebolt l8 will slide inwardly over the teeth of the keeper l1, the spring21 being thus depressed, and will engage the innermost tooth of thekeeper to hold the door in the closed position.

I avoid the difiiculties of the devices of the prior art by providing abutton or other device which is preferably set with its outer end flushwith the surface of the door for withdrawing the bolt |8 from the keeperI! to permit opening of the door. A similar button or like device may beset flush with the inner panel l3 for accomplish ing the same purpose. Iprovide suitable mechanisms actuated by these buttons for withdrawingthe bolt. The button or other device may be flush with the surface ofthe door panels or may project therefrom to a sufficient distance topermit them to be depressed when desired to open the door, but they donot afford a hand hold either inside or outside the door nor can thebuttons be accidentally depressed to unexpectedly open the door.

The buttons or other devices are of such construction and are so locatedthat a thief cannot gain access to the car by wrenching them off. Thebuttons or other devices may be covered with paint of the same color asthe paint or other covering of the door panels and may thereby berendered very inconspicuous, or they may be painted or plated to furnisha contrasting spot of bright color. Buttons may be employed as shown inFigures 1 to 3 inclusive or a handle may be employed which may be madeto sink into a suitable groove or slot in the door as shown in Figure 4.

The button 4| for actuating the bolt I8 is preferably located in thepanel |2 at a point adjacent the door lock mechanism and a sleeve orgrommet 42 is fastened to the panel |2 around the button 4| to serve asa guide for the button and to act as a means by which a tumbler lock 43,hereinafter more particularly described, may be used for locking thebutton 4| with reference to the sleeve 42.

Any suitable means may be employed for conveying movement of the button4| to the bolt l8 and one structure is illustrated in Figures 2 and 3.The structure illustrated comprises a push rod 46 which extends inwardlyfrom the button and is then bent to the left and then parallel with theplate 22, as at 41, and outwardly again as at 48 so as to avoid theglass 49. The push rod is then bent upwardly as at 5| and the upper endof the rod bears againstthe outer face of the arm H! of the bolt. Theportion 41 of the push rod is slidingly engaged in a suitable bracket 52which is secured to the plate 22 ,below the opening 2|. It may readilybe understood that when the 10 button 4| is pushed inwardly this motionis conveyed by means of the push rod 46 to the arm Hi to draw the boltI8 inwardly against the biasing action of the spring 21 to release thebolt from the keeper. 15

Another button 56 is provided in the inner panel I3 and this button ispreferably located centrally of the door at some distancefrom the doorlook. It also is preferably mounted in the sleeve 51 which projectsthrough and inside of 20 the panel l3. Any suitable means may beemployed for transmitting movement of this button to the arm IQ of thebolt I8. A means of accomplishing this result is the lever 6|. Thislever is pivotally engaged at an intermediate point to the 25 bracket 62which may in turn be secured to the inner wall of the panel l3. One endof the lever may be provided with an inwardly projecting part as shownat 63 for engaging the button 56 and the other end of the lever may beprovided 30 with an upwardly projecting part 64 for engaging the arm I9of the bolt l8. It is apparent that if the button 56 is depressed, theportion 63 of the lever arm 6| will be moved outwardly toward the panelI2 to cause the portion 64 to be moved in- 35 wardly toward the panel |3to depress the arm IQ of bolt l8 to release the bolt from the keeper. Itis apparent also that the position of the pivot 62 may be so chosen asto secure any desired mechanical advantage of the lever 6| 40 In openingthe door from the outside the thumb is placed againstvthe button 4| andthe fingers hooked over a ledge 50 at the upper edge of the lowerportion of the door panel. The hand of the operator thus acts as a leverto pry inwardly on 45 the button to release the bolt.

After the bolt has been released the door may then be pulled open bypulling on the ledge 5|! with the fingers. If the button 4| projectedsufficientl-y from the surface of the door the heel of the hand might beused to' depress the button and the door opened by means of the ledge5|! as before.

It is apparent that any suitable mechanism which may be placed flush orsubstantially flush 55 with the surface of the door when not in use mayaccomplish the desired results. For instance, I have shown in Figure 4 amodified embodiment of my inventionin which a handle is employed foropening the door which may be pushed into a w suitable recess in thedoor panel when not being used.

This form of device comprises a handle 8| of substantially the sameconstruction as the handle heretofore employed except that the handlemay 65 he slid in and out on the shaft 82. A recess 83 is formed in thepanel l2 so that when the handle is depressed its outer face is flushwith the surface of the panel l2. In this depressed condition the handlemay be locked in place by means of the 7 ing part of the handle 8| maybe square in cross section so that the handle may be slid in and out onthe shaft, but will rotate the shaft when the handle is rotated. Aspring 8| disposed between the cam- 82 and the handle 8| may be employedfor normally holding the handle in an extended position.

Any suitable means for moving the bolt |8a may be employed but in thepresent instance I have used a cam 82 which acts against an extendedportion 88 of the bolt for driving it inwardly away from the keeper II.In the present instance the handle 8| is extended unless it is locked inplace in the recess 83, but it is apparent that a tension spring may beemployed in place of the compression spring 8| so that the handle 8| isnormally disposed in the recess 83 when not in use. If this reversedarrangement of the parts is used, the recess in 88 is enlarged as shownat 98 so that the operator may reach in under the handle 8| and pull itoutwardly for opening the door.

,Although I have described several specific embodiments of my inventionit is apparent that modifications thereof may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of my invention as set forth in the appendedclaims.

I claim as my invention:

1'. In a door look, a door plate adapted to be fastened to the verticalfree edge of the door and the plate having-an opening therethrough, a

lever pivotally mounted on the plate for rotation in a horizontal planeand having one portion thereof projecting through the opening to form abolt portion and having a rearwardl'y-extending portion, a push rodslidingly engaged on the 5 rear face of the door plate for transversemotion with reference to the door, and having the inner portionprojecting to a position where it may engage the rearwardly extendingportion of the lever, and a button slidingly engaged in the 0 outerpanel of the door and connected with the push rod whereby when thebutton is pushed in the push rod is actuated and caused to bear againstthe lever to retract the bolt portion of the lever. 15

2. In a door look, a door plate, a bolt pivotally engaged on the doorplate and projecting therethrough, a push rod slidingly engaged on therear face of the door plate, and a button on one end of the push rod andmeans for engaging a portion 20 of the bolt on the other end. 4

3. Ina door lock, a door plate, a bolt pivotally engaged on the doorplate and projecting therethrough, a push rod slidingly engaged on therear face of the door plate, a button on one end of the 2:, push rod andmeans for engaging a portion of the bolt on the other end; a leverpivotally mounted within the door, a push button engaged on one end ofthe lever, and the other end of the lever having means thereon for alsoengaging the bolt. 30

PATRICK E. FORD.

